Buffalo, New York employer health plans: what they cost and who gets paid
Updated plan year 2024, the most recent complete year
83 employers in Buffalo, New York filed health plans with 100 or more participants for plan year 2024, covering 133,998 participants. They reported $39M in insurance premiums and $8.0M in broker commissions and fees. Against 2023, premiums were down 32.6% and broker pay rose 0.0%.
Funding: 26 fully insured · 27 self-funded · 30 mixed. 57 of 83 plans pay at least some medical claims from the employer's own assets.
Largest employer health plans in Buffalo
Buffalo employers reporting the most insurance premium across every Schedule A contract, with what they paid brokers.
| Employer | Premiums | Broker pay | Participants | Top broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Physician P.C. | $8,448,715 | $307,968 | 1,017 | Lawley |
| Buffalo Medical Group, P.C. | $6,277,338 | $11,263 | 641 | AssuredPartners |
| Ehs, Inc. | $4,991,227 | $69,956 | 339 | Gis Benefits Inc |
| Beyond Support Network | $2,614,143 | $104,987 | 312 | Bene-Care Inc |
| Jericho Road Ministries, Inc | $2,477,469 | $53,568 | 193 | Lawley |
| Trusted Nurse Staffing, LLC | $2,464,387 | $14,537 | 500 | James R Nelligan and Associates LLC |
| Western New York Independent Living, Inc. | $2,039,837 | $74,605 | 146 | USI Insurance Services |
| Save on SP LLC | $1,996,763 | $75,955 | 269 | Lawley |
| Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, Inc. | $1,450,136 | $66,075 | 281 | Lawley |
| Goldberg Segalla, LLP | $1,256,782 | $123,769 | 611 | Mercer |
| Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP | $1,193,603 | $46,294 | 121 | Lawley |
| Rich Products Corporation | $1,027,882 | $1,686,545 | 7,966 | Aon |
| Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local Buffalo Chapter Health & Welf | $991,477 | $34,187 | 440 | Brown & Brown |
| Crowley Webb & Associates, Inc. | $808,691 | $41,233 | 141 | Lawley |
| Cazenovia Recovery Systems Inc | $721,941 | $37,361 | 116 | Lawley |
| Freed Maxick P.C. | $519,420 | $75,335 | 209 | Lawley |
| Litelab Corp. | $32,322 | $8,909 | 105 | Robert G Relph Agency, Inc |
| Delaware North Companies, Incorporated | $0 | $242,086 | 29,232 | Willis Towers Watson |
| M&T Bank Corporation Flexible Benefits Plan | $0 | $664,801 | 24,029 | Dedecker-Saxe Associates Inc |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co | $0 | — | 22,701 | — |
| Kaleida Health | $0 | $276,835 | 7,514 | Lawley |
| Elderwood Administrative Services, LLC | $0 | $119,877 | 4,443 | Lawley |
| Delta-Sonic Carwash Systems, Inc. | $0 | $33,452 | 3,100 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Sumitomo Rubber USA, LLC | $0 | $11,584 | 2,755 | Lawley |
| Gibraltar Steel Corp. of New York | $0 | $77,338 | 2,142 | Lawley |
Source: DOL Form 5500 Schedule A, plan year 2024; employers are grouped by the sponsor's mailing city as filed. Self-funded employers show only stop-loss and ancillary premium.
Who gets paid
Commissions and fees reported by Buffalo employers, with the number of employer plans naming each broker.
| Broker | Commissions + fees | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Lawley | $2,156,364 | 31 |
| Aon | $1,235,484 | 3 |
| USI Insurance Services | $926,006 | 12 |
| Hewitt Insurance Brokerage LLC | $451,963 | 1 |
| Willis Towers Watson | $398,740 | 4 |
| Dedecker-Saxe Associates Inc | $391,721 | 1 |
| Mercer | $272,624 | 3 |
| Gallagher | $253,123 | 7 |
| Walsh Duffield Companies Inc. | $206,008 | 6 |
| Meritain Health | $171,975 | 1 |
Largest medical carriers
Medical premium written for these employers.
Buffalo against New York and the U.S.
Medians over the same definitions on every BenefitsLedger page: commission rate on commission-paying, fully insured medical plans; broker pay per employer that disclosed any; medical premium per covered person.
| Buffalo | New York | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer plans | 83 | 3,508 | 58,547 |
| Median commission rate | n/a | 3.7% | 3.8% |
| Middle half of rates | n/a | 2.9% – 4.3% | 2.7% – 5.0% |
| Median broker pay per employer | $54,238 | $85,893 | $72,628 |
| Medical premium per covered person | $8,897 | $10,907 | $7,274 |
| Plans reporting no commission | 2 | 28 | 933 |
Year over year. In plan year 2023, 78 Buffalo employers reported $58M in premiums and $8.0M in broker pay for 135,491 participants; in 2024 it was $39M and $8.0M for 133,998 participants (premiums −32.6%, broker pay +0.0%).
Source: DOL Form 5500 and Schedule A, plan years 2024 and 2023, employer health plans with 100 or more participants; built October 24, 2026. Medians need at least 10 rated plans to be shown for a city. Methodology.
How much do Buffalo employers pay health insurance brokers?
83 Buffalo employers reported $8,022,818 in broker commissions and fees on their 2024 Form 5500 filings, 76 of them disclosing at least some compensation. Too few fully insured medical plans in Buffalo reported premium to compute a stable commission rate; the New York median is 3.7% and the U.S. median is 3.8%. In dollars, the median Buffalo employer that disclosed broker pay reported $54,238.
Which Buffalo employers have the largest health plans?
By insurance premium reported for 2024, General Physician P.C. ($8.4M), Buffalo Medical Group, P.C. ($6.3M), Ehs, Inc. ($5.0M) lead. 25 Buffalo employers are listed on this page; every employer in the record has its own page.
Which brokers and carriers are paid the most in Buffalo?
By compensation reported by Buffalo employers, the largest brokers are Lawley ($2.2M, 31 plans), Aon ($1.2M, 3 plans), USI Insurance Services ($926,006, 12 plans). By medical premium, the largest carriers are Highmark Western and Northeastern New York Inc., Univera Healthcare, Independent Health Benefits Corporation.
Are Buffalo employer health plans self-funded or fully insured?
Of 83 Buffalo employer plans, 26 are fully insured, 27 are self-funded and 30 mix insured and self-funded coverage. Self-funded plans report only stop-loss and ancillary contracts on Schedule A, so their premium and broker pay understate total spend.
Other cities in New York
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